We must keep prosperity flowing on both sides of the border
Capitol Hill was the mark of a foreign invasion a not many days ago. It was the friendliest of invasions, but very serious in its close: to ensure that the economies of the United States and Canada continue to flourish and that our citizens achieve the prosperity they deserve.
As Canadian Consul General in Seattle, with a territory comprising Washington pomp, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska, I joined a dozen of my counterparts representing Canada in the U.S. to talk to your elected representatives ready North American competitiveness in the global marketplace. Together, we held more than 60 meetings with members of the House and the Senate, making the case in favor of the cross-border supply chain that is a key to our joint prosperity.
The message we took to the Hill was Canadian and Americans
I made the point that the complete easy operation of the supply chain is vital to jobs and smiles of fortune in the one and the other nations and in the Pacific Northwest Region. Information on the local and regional importance of Canada-U.S. trade was prepared by the cooperation of companies operating in this area, including Daimler Trucks North America, the Port of Portland, Horizon Air, spud!, the J.R. Simplot Company and Campbell Soup Company.
My colleagues and I also discussed the achievements of the North American Free Trade Agreement which has seen buying and selling among the three partner nations increase threefold seeing that 1994 in what has become a powerful North American economic space, a space inside of which Canada is the number one customer of 35 states, in that Canada buys almost four times as much from the U.S. than does China.
With this impressive memorial, why, you may awe, was our recent effort on Capitol Hill necessary? Do we not have the most successful trading relationship in the globe?
Indeed we grant: the world’s largest country-to-country trading relationship. But, as impressive and important as that is, it is only part of the story.
Today’s trade is not just about selling finished products to each other. We make things together and we sell them not only to ourselves moreover in addition to the rest of the world. Some $1.7 billion in trade vexations our brink daily
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, both our nations have invested heavily in border heedlessness, for all the right reasons. Now it is time to reinvest in a border that is our gateway to prosperity. That means a confine without unnecessary fees and unnecessary inspections. A limit that uses sound risk-management practices to observe bad people and dangerous goods out, but that recognizes and facilitates our best corporate citizens who participator with us in developing fast supply fetters.
In other logomachy, a 24/7 border built around 21st-century infrastructure and border policies. A secure border that creates jobs and creates wealth.
Canadians and Americans are in this together. We depend on one one more to compete globally. We are dealmakers and job-creators, and we need that to continue.
Original text: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008026253_canadaoped01.html?syndication=rss
